Bootleg Biology’s Jeff Mello has offered up his lab for our March 10th meeting. Not only has he done this, but he has gone even farther by coming up with the idea of having a club brewing contest at the meeting. Jeff has volunteered to give out 15 packages of yeast to those that want to enter the contest. There is no entry fee, but you will be required to be an active club member who is current on their dues, you must brew the beer, ferment with the provided yeast and bring 1 full growler of your beer to the meeting on Saturday March 10th. When you go pick up the yeast from Jeff, he will give you a sheet that he’s asking you to fill out with the basic info about your beer and fermentation process. Your yeast packet “MUST BE PICKED UP BY THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 5TH”, to ensure the freshest yeast possible and that you have enough time to brew your beer. The info sheet will help give Jeff additional data to work with on this yeast. The yeast that he is specifically propagating up for us is a blend of Sacc strains designed to be used in IPAs/NEIPAs/or anything with a heavy focus on fruitiness. He didn’t say if the yeast itself added fruity character or if it boosted what the hops put out. You will not be limited as to what style you make. Even though he suggested using it for IPAs, you could be as creative as you want, we just ask that you only use this yeast to ferment it.

Since we want this to be fun, you all will be the judges. That’s right, you will get a chance to taste all the entries (which is the reason we need a full growler from each entrant) and rate your top 5 favorite. In the judging process we will supply club members with a small sample of each beer. The cups will be labeled A-O, so you will not know who’s beer is who’s. We do not want this to be super formal so we are throwing the BJCP guidelines out the window for this one. Once everyone’s sheets are in we will count up who had the most votes, and that person will be the winner. The winner will be able to select their prize from a selection of items provided by Jeff, things such as Bootleg Biology gear, Hops, and more Yeast.

In order to enter I need you to message me on facebook (Joseph Nance or Ultra-Junkie) or email me at Mrhowdymr@yahoo.com, and provided you are up to date on your dues for the 2018 year, I will reserve you a spot and your free yeast packet. If you have any other questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. If you do contact me by email, please put “MCB Bootleg Comp” in the subject line.